Model 3
Tesla announced the Model 3 last week in a great presentation that is memorable not just for the the car, but for its succinctness. Elon Musk has an endearing way of talking about what Tesla does and the crowd at the presentation was eating it up. I enjoyed the presentation, and I’m excited to learn more about the Model 3 as it comes closer to the roads.
I’ve written in the past about my disappointment in Tesla’s place in the market. The Model 3 is their answer to this. Starting at $35K, it is not the cheapest thing available but is actually affordably for many families. As of this written there are almost 300,000 reservations, with $1000 down payments, for the car. It seems like the market is speaking and I hope that other car companies are listening. I would love to see every major manufacturer offering electric vehicles within the same price range.
The car itself seems awesome. It has many of the most important features from the Model S, doesn’t skimp on speed or range, and can comfortably fit five adults. I prefer the design of the car to the Model S, and am eager to see one in person. I really think that Tesla hit it out of the park here.
It’s kind of heartbraking seeing this announcement, because the cars will not ship until late next year at the earliest. My family is in the market for a new car this summer and if could we get the Model 3 right away we might have already made our reservation. As it stands, we will probably purchase a gasoline car and then look at the electric market again when we want to upgrade our second car in a few years. I’m hoping at that point that we could choose from a wider variety of electric vehicles.
Even then, we might go with whatever Tesla is doing because it’s hard for me to imagine any other car maker getting serious about over the air software updates (or software at all), service, little details, and supercharger access that Tesla is so good at. My Tesla skepticism has been diminished. I’d like to see it vanquished by a strong, quick rollout of the Model 3.